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On July 5, NBC Los Angeles aired veteran reporter Conan Nolan’s interview with USC President C. L. Max Nikias. The two covered a broad range of topics including biotechnology, USC Village, President Nikias’ vision for USC and the overall state of higher education.

President C. L. Max Nikias returned from Japan this week, after chairing the 19th Annual President’s Meeting of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), hosted by Osaka University. President Nikias was elected chair of APRU in 2014.

Established in 1997 by the presidents of the California Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, UCLA and USC, APRU today connects 45 premier Pacific Rim research universities. Together, APRU universities work to foster cooperation in education and contribute to the economic and scientific advancement

On Friday June 12, at a special event hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USC President C. L. Max Nikias was honored as the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. USC trustee Edward P. Roski Jr. presented the award, citing President Nikias’ leadership in creating opportunities for local students through the Neighborhood Academic Initiative and through the LAPD Cadets program. Every year, the university invests more than $30 million in programs that directly benefit

USC President C. L. Max Nikias, joined by first lady Niki C. Nikias, received a warm welcome upon returning to his undergraduate alma mater earlier this week for a special ceremony held in front of more than 100 faculty, senior administrators, family, and friends. President Nikias graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 1977 and on Tuesday, was presented with an honorary doctorate in electrical and computer engineering by NTUA’s vice rector, Dimitrios Papantonis, and dean of

As raindrops pelted caps and gowns during USC’s 132nd commencement ceremony, finance executive and main speaker Mellody Hobson offered USC graduates three words of wisdom to conquer any of life’s storms: Just add bravery.

“Bravery,” Hobson told the Trojans, “allows us to push beyond the boundaries that hold us back from living the lives that we want.”

More than 15,000 degrees were conferred to USC graduates, who hailed from each of the 50 states and from more than 115 nations. Despite their

Earlier this week, President Nikias and first lady Niki Nikias joined Chairman of the Board of Trustees John Mork and his wife Julie, to celebrate the first graduating class of Mork Family Scholars. The 19 graduates come from a broad range of disciplines encompassing the arts, sciences and engineering. Many attended the celebratory dinner with their parents.

In his remarks, President Nikias congratulated the scholars and paid tribute to the Morks—John and Julie, and their children, Allison and Kyle. “The Morks are a family

Gordon Brown, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, recently spent two weeks at USC, joining Steven Lamy, professor of international relations and vice dean for academic programs, in teaching the course “Case Studies in Modern Leadership.” Offering an intensive study of international politics and economics at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the class gave 82 undergraduates from diverse majors the opportunity to examine various dimensions of what the world may look like in 2025 from the perspective

Earlier this year, President C. L. Max Nikias spoke to Peter Marx, Chief Innovation Technology Officer and Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, as part of the L.A. Live Talks Business Forum series of events. President Nikias discussed the virtues of the modern American research university as well as the areas he’s focused on as President of USC. The full video was recently published and is now available below.

President Nikias and First Lady, Niki Nikias, returned over the weekend from a three-day tour of Texas, including stops in Houston, Austin and Dallas. They hosted Trojan Family Receptions, meeting hundreds of alumni, parents, and other friends of the university during their whirlwind tour of the state.

In his remarks, President Nikias highlighted USC’s close bonds with Texas – as USC’s larger feeder state for students after California, as the home of USC’s largest alumni base outside of California, and as a

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan could not leave the U.S. without returning to USC.

Abe stopped at the University Park Campus on his way to Los Angeles International Airport on May 2, after a week of historic diplomacy that included a state dinner at the White House and the first address by a Japanese prime minister to a joint session of Congress.

It was Abe’s first time on campus in almost 40 years. He spent three semesters here in 1978 studying